India eyes numero uno spot in world for recycling

The recycling of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has come a long way in the country. In terms of numbers, India now stands at the second position worldwide, after China. During 2015-16, 9 lakh metric tonnes of PET bottles were recycled.

| TNN | Feb 17, 2017, 09:51 IST

PUNE: The recycling of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has come a long way in the country. In terms of numbers, India now stands at the second position worldwide, after China. During 2015-16, 9 lakh metric tonnes of PET bottles were recycled.
In fact, during the last edition of the Cricket World Cup, the loudest cheers for the Indian squad came from environmentalists as the team was sporting jerseys made from recycled PET bottles. The bottles are largely used to sell cold drinks or mineral water.

“Such a move sends a message to every cricket fan in the country. Seeing their heroes wear jerseys made of recycled material, encourages them to recycle PET bottles as well,“ shared Apoorva Shah, senior manager of recycling at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

The jerseys are also an indication of how much the count ry has progressed in terms of recycling PET bottles.

According to scientist Magesh Nandgopal, from Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) -National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), “The organized sector collectively recycles 60%-70% of PET-bottle waste generated in India.PET recycling business in India generates around Rs3,500 crore a year, employing thousands, and recycling billions of PET bottles.“

Director of CSIR-NCL Ashiwni Kumar Nangia on Thursday launched a website that showcases the entire process as well as the scale of PET recycling in the country , across various locations and the role of all stakeholders in the value chain as found by a research team of CSIR-NCL. The website, petrecycling.in, encourages readers to contribute in the recycling process.

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